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Billionaire completes first private spacewalk

13 Sep 2024 - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}      

A billionaire and an engineer have become the first non-professional crew to perform one of the riskiest manoeuvres in space - a spacewalk.
Jared Isaacman and Sarah Gillis stepped out of the SpaceX spacecraft around 15 minutes apart, starting at 11:52BST, wearing specially-designed suits.
"Back at home we all have a lot of work to do, but from here Earth sure looks like a perfect world," Mr Isaacman said as he exited.
It was commercially funded by Mr Isaacman. Before, only astronauts with government-funded space agencies had done a spacewalk.

The crew will be protected from the harsh conditions of space by the new SpaceX EVA suit (pictured) which uses materials borrowed from the Dragon's trunk section to provide thermal insulation

Images broadcast live showed the two crew emerge from the white Dragon capsule to float 435 miles (700km) above the blue Earth below.
Mr Isaacman emerged first, wiggling his limbs, hands and feet to test his suit. He returned back inside the hatch, and Ms Gillis, who works for SpaceX, then climbed out.
Both crew narrated their spacewalk, describing how their suits performed outside of the craft.

The Polaris Dawn crew are (from left to right) Anna Mennon, Scott Poteet, Jared Isaacman and Sarah Gillis

Having completed the spacewalk the Polaris Dawn crew (pictured) will be able to remove their EVA suits and move around the cabin of the Dragon capsule